Session 10: In Pursuit of a Time Traveler Rifle Woman
THEN The party had received an old hunter's notebook, with some useful information, including something about a being that killed a number of people every 39 years in Hortonville, Wisconsin, the week before the summer solstice. Also, Cody got that pesky demon out of him. NOW Some of the party was called away, by the vampires they had met in Levittown, Pennsylvania. That left Cody and Alan to travel to Hortonville, Wisconsin and stop the solstice killings. On their way into town, they almost hit a woman in the road. She was dressed oddly (like a time traveler confused as to what time period she might be visiting?) and they debated following her, but she ran off. Alan and Cody pulled into the small town, acquiring a room at the local bed and breakfast, run by a Debbie Moore. Upon realizing the woman had matched the description of a suspicious woman sighted during the previous murders, they went back to search the area where they'd seen her. All they found were some bullets and shell casings, from an antique rifle (though they appeared in relatively good condition for such old-fashioned shells). They returned to the B&B for sleep, only to find the next morning that the innkeeper's daughter, Allison, had been killed. After enjoying a satisfying meal of waffles, they sought out the scene of the crime. While the home was guarded, they found out that the death was ruled an animal attack. They also spotted the hat of the woman they'd seen in the road the previous evening. They then proceeded to the library for more information on the area and the killings. They discovered that there had been two Native American tribes in the area back before the time of the first killings, the Helaku and the Tavo. And in 1695, a group of the Tavo had killed 39 of the Helaku. A memorial totem pole had been constructed to honor these deaths and shame the Tavo: an owl, wolf, bear, and up-side-down rabbit (the symbol of the Tavo) marked the totem. They also read that some elders of the tribe had believed the totem to hold some power and seek vengeance. They also found information on the most recent string of attacks, in 1968. A woman had been suspected and held in jail, but she seemed to have an accomplice, as the attacks continued after her inprisonment. She also disappeared mysteriously from her cell. Planning to return to the location of their first sighting, they passed the recent crime scene again. There, an old man named Isaac was arguing with the policeman on duty, trying to convince him that it was the work of that woman, a witch he'd seen 39 years prior. The cop was entirely unconvinced, but Alan and Cody decided to have a talk with the man. They discovered that Isaac had seen this woman 39 years prior, as well as 78 years prior, when he was a small boy--she was at the graveyard. Using this information (and now suspecting a witch rather than a strange werewolf or shapeshifter or a multitude of other creatures), Alan and Cody went to the cemetery. They found the graves the woman had presumably been looking at--people killed in WWI--and as they were standing there, she walked in. They walked up to her, boldly but awkwardly trying to start a conversation, and eventually realized she was an ally--someone trying to hunt the creature. Her name was Virginia Hale, and she had been hired to kill the beast, what she called Otaktay. When she realized she wouldn't be successful before it vanished for another 39 years, she had an old wise woman bind her to it, so she would appear when it did. She had been hunting it--unsuccessfully, though not without scars--ever since. The three realized that the totem might be linked to the creature, and Cody suspected that two Native American statues outside the video store might be related. So Cody went to check those out, while Alan bought Virginia some more modern clothes (to blend in better) and returned to the library to discuss the totem. She considered that it might be a tulpa, and Cody discovered that the Indian statues did indeed fit together, and were likely the totem pole. The party decided to wait until night, when the Otaktay would attack, and then make their move--the statues safely (but not comfortably) wedged into Alan's car. They did find the creature, but their attacks did little--until they redirected their attacks to the statues. These fire, sword, and gun attacks did immense damage, allowing the Otaktay only a single swing at Cody before it was incapacitated. Finally, Virginia's last attack finished the totems off--vanquishing both the creature, and herself. Both disappeared before Alan and Cody's eyes. Research showed that the beast was gone, but history (Which Alan had briefly worried about) remained intact. They knew that Virginia was satisfied with the ending, having only wanted to end the savage beast's killings. They themselves were glad to have moved on, before the video store owner reported the theft and vandalism of his Indian statues. Category:Bad Company